Loading...
Loading...

Matt Moore and Ryan Blackburn discuss the Nuggets playoff rotation, a potential Finals path for the Nuggets, and they say something nice about the Denver Nuggets this season.
PrizePicks
Download the PrizePicks app today and use codeLOCKEDONNFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.
Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNBA
Quo
Make this the year where no opportunity - and no cutsomer - slips away.
Try Quo for free plus get 20% off your first 6 months when you go to http://Quo.com/lockedonnba.
DoorDash
From tipoff to overtime, stay in your bag and order on DoorDash.
Get snacks, drinks, gear — whatever gets you through the season — delivered right to your door.
DoorDash. In your bag all season long.
Betterhelp
This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. BetterHelp makes it easy to get matched online with a qualified therapist. Sign up and get 10% off at http://BetterHelp.com/LOCKEDONNBA.
5-Hour ENERGY
Have your cake & drink it too. Birthday cake-flavor is back, no fork needed. Vanilla-y cakey flavor, caffeinated kick, and no sugar. It's party time. Order Now at 5-hourENERGY.com or Amazon.
Indeed
Listeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/podcast
Gametime
Today's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase. Terms and conditions apply.
FanDuel
FanDuel is giving you a way to turn that energy into even bigger potential wins with a College Basketball Parlay Profit Boost.Visit https://FANDUEL.COM to get started — Play Your Game.
FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
It's the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day.
This is Nick Gangsta with the Lockdown Mavericks Podcast.
This message is a paid partnership with Apple Card.
I love that I can run up to 3% daily cash back on every purchase of my Apple Card, which
can be automatically sent to my high yield savings account through Apple Card right in the
wallet app.
With my iPhone, I can use Apple Card with Apple Pay basically everywhere I go.
You can apply for Apple Card too, right in the wallet app on your iPhone.
Subject to credit approval, savings is available to Apple Card owners, subject to eligibility,
savings in Apple Card by Goldman Sachsbank, USA Salt Lake City Branch member FDIC, terms
and more at AppleCard.com.
This is Wes Goldberg from Lockdown NBA and Lockdown Heat with a message from Dell.
Dell PCs with Intel Insider built for the moments that you plan for, and the ones you
don't.
The moments that you're working from a cafe and realize, every out let's take in, or the
times that you're deep in your flow and can't be interrupted for an auto update.
That's why Dell builds tech that adapts to you, with long lasting battery and built
in intelligence that makes updates around your schedule, not in the middle of it.
Find technology built for the way you work at Dell.com slash XPS.
Built for you.
Coming up, no gloom, no doom, we're going to say some nice things about the different
nuggets.
We're going to say some positive things about the different nuggets.
We're going to talk about the playoff rotation, and we're going to tell you about the path
to the finals for the Denver Nuggets that you don't even see yet.
Coming up, on Lockdown Nuggets.
You are Lockdown Nuggets, your daily Denver Nuggets podcast, part of the Lockdown podcast
network, your team, every day.
Welcome to Lockdown Nuggets, your daily Denver Nuggets podcast, part of the Lockdown podcast
network, your team, every day.
Thanks for joining us, and making this part of your day, being in every day, and making
us your first lesson.
We do appreciate each and every one of you joining us, whether you're listening wherever
you get your podcast for free, or if you're joining us at youtube.com slash locked on nuggets.
We appreciate you guys being part of our community.
If you want, you can join up and support the show by being a member of our every dayers
club.
You just go to locked on nuggets dot supercast dot com, and you can join up and you can join
the discord and talk about the nuggets fans are dropping trade proposals, because that's
where fans go immediately.
Means all sorts of fun stuff in there.
You also get our scouting reports.
There'll be so much stuff in the off season, the Ryan will produce, we'll have more exclusive
content throughout the NBA playoffs, all sorts of great stuff.
It's worth it.
You'll have a lot of fun.
It'll get you more connected with our community.
We appreciate you guys joining the everydayers club at locked on nuggets.
That's supercast dot com.
Today's show is brought to you by the band who will give you a way to turn that energy
into even bigger potential wins with a college basketball parlay boost.
Head to fandall.com to get started.
That's fandall.com.
Fandall play your game.
Minus Matt Moore.
I'm going to cover the number nuggets is credential reporter for 14 seasons.
Arway Paroxysm Denver dig locked on NBA daily and the action network along with fan
cited.
Joe the Ryan Blackburn from mile high sports where he's on the pickaxe and
real podcast all throughout the weekend and mile high sports riding all sorts of
Denver columns and he'll be at where will you be on Saturday?
I'll be at number 38, which is a bar downtown in the rhino area of Denver.
And we're going to have a double watch party with the abs in the afternoon and
the nuggets in the evening.
We've got a studio out there.
It's going to be great.
It's going to be a lot of fun on today's show.
We'll talk about Denver's path to the NBA finals.
Stop laughing.
I'm serious.
There's a path.
We'll talk about the playoff rotation.
Who's in?
Who's out?
But we're going to start this with something kind of positive.
So we're moving on for the OKC game.
The boys said they're their fill last night.
Talked about it.
I thought it was a great show last night, kind of putting in perspective.
How great a game that was.
I gave my perspective today on how we got to stop blaming the offense and
talk about what's real.
And that's the defense for the Denver nuggets.
You can go listen to that show.
But I do want to kind of like take a break.
Take a second.
Take a moment and just be like, look, we are almost the end of the season and
we'll have you can't really do like end of when you're a playoff team.
You can't do the end of the season.
Like what was the season like?
You don't get to do that because it's just like playhouse, playhouse, playhouse.
So I do kind of want to take a moment here, Ryan.
And it just be like, what's something that you've enjoyed from the
watch the different nuggets of season?
What's something that's been good about the nuggets of season that you've
really kind of thought of set out?
What if I just like held held the tone for a little bit and just
just gave open dead air for for a while?
That would be pretty funny for this segment.
No, no, I mean, look, nuggets fans, you're overreacting if there was
nothing good about this season.
There's been plenty good about this season.
We've seen amazing performances from a lot of people.
I think the renaissance of Jamal Murray is probably the most important one
where there were so many folks and I mean so many folks who buried Jamal
and completely put them under the bus and basically said, Hey,
this is a dead contract.
This is going to be the worst contract that you could possibly have.
Yes, you'll have a couple of playoff moments here and there.
But he's unreliable in the regular season and unreliable in the
playoffs when it actually comes down to it against tough teams.
And there are a lot of people that were just going out of the way to make
that happen.
And Denver trades, Michael Porter, Jr.
Obviously, you know, pretty like polarizing trade now.
They reorient their team around Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon, Nicole
Yokech and lo and behold, Jamal has stepped up in a big way,
became an all star for the first time this season.
That's the biggest win for Denver this year.
So far has been Jamal Murray proving that he's at least capable of
consistently being a top 15 top 20 player in the NBA once again.
Yeah, I just enjoyed seeing Jamal the leadership that he showed to where
he's been such a leader on the floor for this team and off the court.
And the approach that he's taken and he just seems to have like really
matured and come into his own.
He seems so much more comfortable with himself and as a player.
And even though he's still sometimes biting in post game interviews,
it's less, it's more like tongue in cheek.
Oh, yeah, which is nice to kind of see him kind of be like,
he's in on the bit where it's like, it's mostly just a bit at this point, right?
Yeah, um, instead of genuinely wanting us all to burn, which,
which was the thing the last couple of years, it wasn't that I felt
that he probably, he probably wants, wants me to.
To stuff.
I was giving you some pretty good answers.
Yeah, he's giving me some pretty good answers this year.
I have to have to thank him for that.
Um, but from a basketball standpoint, I mean, look,
Spencer Jones has been my favorite predictably where it's just like a guy that
makes all the hustle plays who pays attention to the scouting report,
who wants to be like Spencer makes it's been really cool watching it just
because like Spencer's getting this crash course and how to guard all these guys,
because it's not like some defensive guys, you kind of ease in slowly.
And the nuggets are like, well, we don't have anybody else.
So he'd go out there and guard the best player every night.
And so he's having to learn all this stuff about the tendencies and like,
seeing stuff like how quickly Lucas able to get back to his left and like,
watching him deal with on of a Mitchell and be like, okay,
I didn't know hips moved that way.
And like all these types of things, that's been really cool.
And he just plays so hard and so smart and so effectively.
It's been really awesome to see.
Uh, I love two way guys.
I love anybody.
It's been time in the G league.
I'm always going to be partial to those guys.
I think that the guys that have to have to work the most,
I think are the ones that I root for the most.
And so it's been really awesome to kind of see.
Uh, I have enjoyed some part of a junior in his presence in the locker room.
I've enjoyed him as far as just like having a pure shooter.
It's been nice to see the nuggets hit threes again.
That has been a refreshing change of pace when last.
Gosh, yeah, because there is about a certain shooter that's in Brooklyn right now.
Then you're a hell of a couple of years.
And so it's nice to have a guy that just like fires and is,
is willing to shoot.
And it's great to have Bruce back, man.
Like it's so good to have Bruce back around the team just because like,
even when Bruce struggles on the court, he is such a great presence.
I think for the team in terms of the energy that he brings with the locker room.
How about that mustache that he put together for this game on Monday night?
That thing was going all the way down.
That was crazy, but good for Bruce.
He's like one of the only guys that could possibly pull that off and like actually make it look cool.
So good for him.
No, he has put together a really, it was initially a subpar season.
But I think over the course of the last couple of months,
he's bounced back overall and playing in a better position.
And just a little bit more comfortable with what his role actually is versus what his role was.
And trying to rediscover and trying to find that again.
But you're 100% right about him.
You're 100% right about Spencer.
I also have loved what Spencer has done,
campaigning for him to get that contract for as long as I like it was just so clear from the
get go that he was a guy who deserved that deal.
Immediately, they put him into the starting lineup after
Cam Johnson goes, no, even with Cam Johnson in there.
Like when Christian Brown and Aaron Gordon go down Spencer Jones,
immediately becomes the guy that plays.
And he has won them games like legitimately won them basketball games this year.
And that's more than you could possibly say for
95% of two way contract guys that come through the NBA.
So amazing stuff for Spencer.
They got a gem in him.
I hope that they can retain him.
And of course, Peyton Watson's emergence.
I am not as blown away by the on ball stuff as a lot of people are.
Because it's like if you look at the highlights,
there's it shows one thing.
And if you look at like the actual like results and if you go by clip by clip,
I'm not even saying look at the data.
Just go by and look clip by clip.
You'll be like, oh, that's actually just kind of like mixed results.
But Peyton turning into this weapon that can mold from a 3&D weapon to an on ball creator.
I think is really terrific.
And he has become a knock down dead eye shooter in the corner,
which God to the nuggets actually do need as much as I don't think the offense has any problems.
They do need that for the playoffs.
And that combination when Peyton down shifts from trying to create
to these moments where he then shifts off ball,
those are my favorite moments for Peyton Watson.
Because I think his potential is a 3&D guy is absolutely electric.
I like that he's got the on ball game and he'll continue to get better at that.
Like two years from now, it's going to be like holy crap Peyton such a polished player.
But like the overall emergence from Peyton Watson has to be one of the big wins of the season.
Jay to McDaniel's is still a really good comp for that, I think, where he is a guy that has
shown throughout his career that he can scale up, but the best role for him on a team that has
a whole bunch of success is one that is a little bit more flexible, a little bit more willing
to kind of be a third, fourth or fifth guy at times, but still getting paid like a very important
piece. So I hope that they can retain him in this summer. It's going to be a very interesting
offseason for the nuggets, especially if things get a little bit uncomfortable at times.
But it's going to be interesting to see how they get into this playoff rotation, how they get
into these playoffs because not all of these guys that we talked about are going to play consistently.
And so I'm very curious to see who does. And what's up about that coming up here?
We will get to that plus I will ask Ryan, what number player does he think can score 83 points
in a game? We'll talk about that coming up on locked on nuggets.
Ryan, I am pivoting to Wednesday. What's the heads up?
Today's show is brought to you by Indeed Sponsored Jobs, workplace chaos, deadline stacking up in
inbox overflowing. And then one position you have to feel still sitting open when the pressure is on
and you need to write higher. This is the job for sponsor jobs. Indeed Sponsored Jobs helps you
reach the people who actually fit what you're looking for, skills, experience and locations. So
you're not just hoping the right candidates stumbles across your post. I've been on the hiring side
and I know how difficult it can be and how sometimes it can be feel like it's random and
frustrating. It's great to have a tool that's going to help you narrow those things down so you
can get back to your job as opposed to finding somebody else to do the other job. It's not your job.
That's why you need Indeed Sponsored Jobs. Here's a stat that says it all. In the men I've been talking
to you, companies like yours made 27 hires on Indeed. According to Indeed data worldwide. So if
you're hiring spend less time searching and more time interviewing candidates who check all your
boxes with Indeed Sponsored Jobs. Listers of this show will get $75 sponsor job credits to help
get your job your premium stats that deserves at Indeed.com slash podcast. Just go to Indeed.com
slash podcast right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast.
Indeed.com slash podcast terms and conditions apply need to hire. This is a job for Indeed Sponsored
Jobs. Russell brought to you today by five hour energy. Welcome to the five hour energy
flavor draft with 18 different flavors that you use from including new options like confetti craze
fruity rainbow or cotton candy. There's something for everyone. The board is set. The flavors are
ready. I've got my number one pick for the five hour energy flavor draft. I'm going to go with one
of the new ones. The confetti craze. It sounds crazy, but it's actually really balanced and good.
It's like a birthday cake, but it's just like really smooth. Goes down easy. It's got frosting
and sugary sprinkle tastes to it. Absolutely terrific. That's your number one C, but for me as far
as a sleeper pick, the one that's going to go the distance. It's got to be watermelon. I love
watermelon drinks and this one is so good with the five hour energy because it gives you that boost.
It's not overly heavy. It's not syrupy. It's crisp and easy to drink quickly. You can find
this flavor and your favorite number one pick in the five hour energy draft. When you go and find
your new flavor at five hour energy shots available online at fivehourenergy.com or Amazon.
We'll be right back on Locked On Nuggets.
Back here on Locked On Nuggets. Thanks for joining us in Megan's party or day. No wolf says
yoghurt's could drink 83 beers. Let's go. That's a winning comment right there.
Oh, man. I always keep osios in the comments. I love CT today because you were talking to it like
CT. CT loves the draft and so CT is always talking about like they need this. They need
look at the shot creators and I'm just like it's just the defense. It's not talking about
shock creation. They don't need shock creation. It's just the defense. My love CT does really great
work and we'll be and he is also right at times where like sometimes if you are like okay,
okay, if we're we're just gonna say Murray. Yo, could you create everything? That's it.
Gordon. Gordon creates actually and honestly like what he can do what he did on the final
three. The yoga kid is just like hey, just get to the elbow. Have him operate there and he can
pass somebody open to. I think him has more creation than he gets credit for because of the way
he keeps the offense moving, which is like one of the reasons why the offense has been so good with
them. I just don't think that the shock creation is a problem for the number one offense and a leak.
I did find this out today. They are the number so NBA.com you can store it by losses. So every team
when they lose, the nuggets have the number one offense when they lose. When they win, they have the
number one offense because they have the number one offense when they win or when they lose,
they have the number one offense. Among all teams when they lose, they are the best offense.
Among all teams when they win, they are the best offense. I really can't stress how good the
offense is. This is an interesting question because your bar is a lot higher than mine.
And there is this idea now about the playoffs and like this guy can't play and this guy can't play
like in the discord day over at the locked on nuggets every day or club, it's discord,
which you should go join at locked on nuggets at supercast.com. There was like a suggestion
that like it should be a seven man rotation. And I'm like, we're not doing this again. Are we
going to get the blood these guys sit down for a little bit? I think it depends on who they play,
right? Okay, so he is a different problem, which we'll talk about in the in the final segment.
But I want to kind of ask you, all the top of your head, how many like, okay, how many guys are
you certain are in the play operation? I'll say seven right now. I think that you go
Murray, Christian, Cam, Slash, Peyton, but Cam at least right now, Aaron, Yokech, and then you have
Peyton off the bench and Tim Hardaway off the bench. I think that those are the seven that you
can pencil and say that is absolutely 100% definitely happening. There's an argument that you go
with a different point guard if Bruce Brown is struggling. There's an argument that you go with
Spencer Jones. If you need a little bit more size, there's an argument that you go with Jonas
Valentinus. If you need an actual center out there, there is an argument for Julian Strothers. If you
just want to maximize shooting or if somebody gets hurt, like there's like Julian is the guy that I
think should blame a lot of these cases. But in terms of guaranteeing it, I think you can only say
those top seven. So the five Tim Hardaway junior and Peyton. Peyton. So you don't think Bruce
is definitely on the rotation. I mean, I can just see enough situations, I guess, where Jamal plays
42 minutes and they decide, you know what, we're just going to play big with the other minutes and
go Christian and Julian or Christian and Tim or Christian and Peyton. And then you have
a can Spencer Yokech and that's the the five that you have to close a quarter then buries back on
the floor. All right, so let's go back. Let's do this because I always think it's round by round.
If they play the Lakers, are there guys that you think can't play versus the Lakers?
No, I think all 11 of the guys that I mentioned can play versus the Lakers. I think you go Bruce
off the bench, Julian, Tim, Spencer, Peyton, Jonas. I think all six of them could play. You'll
probably pick and choose nine or 10, but like probably nine. I would like them to not go small.
If they play the Minnesota two rules in the first round, I would like them to not do that.
I think that is a bad idea for multiple reasons. So I think Val needs to play in that series.
Even if it's Nazaried and he's trying to close out to Nazaried.
If it's what if it's the Rudy Stagger?
I mean, I feel like Rudy's going to match Yokech for most of them.
I mean, maybe, but Rudy's normal rotation is the Stagger and they have used Rudy in the
non-Yokech minutes in the playoffs.
And honestly, that's true. And one of the issues that the Nuggets have had with Minnesota,
certainly in this last matinee game, was when Julius Randall slides to the five and they've got
like Julius at the five and just a whole bunch of guards and wings that are running up in
down Denver's throat. That's an easy way for Minnesota to get an advantage.
I also, I think, versus in the rotation.
I do too for what it's worth. I just, I'm just talking about guarantees.
Okay. So I think it's a, I think when we get to like, look, if you get to OKC game four or
game three, if you're down to two, right? And it's all hands on deck seasons on the line. Sure.
Or you'd rather be able to kind of get through, but I also, I am of the opinion,
especially because of the position that they're going to be in.
We don't have like anything that's proven here.
Like, there's nothing you could be like. This definitely works and this other thing definitely
does not. We have a lot of mixed results. Agreed.
And so if we have a lot of mixed results, I think they need to be really flexible because like,
I still think Julius draw there can be a valuable component.
I think straw showed it in game six. If he had not had this stretch in January,
I would be like, OK with it. And like, he's tailing back off again because this is what happens.
Like guys have good months and bad months. But he had game six last year.
And then he had what's gone on this season. He's long, he's athletic and he can shoot.
That sounds like a guy I think that needs to get playoff minutes. Yeah.
So I hope, I mean, here's the thing is that the rotations just do tighten in the playoffs when
everybody's talking about execution risks and how many minutes you can realistically be without
your best defenders on the floor and things like that. Like, I think Julian can contribute.
But it might be a choice between him and Tim. And who do you think Adelman is realistically
picking? Do you think jail and picket is absolutely no?
At this point, yeah. Like, he has not played in the post-all star break stretch and
absolutely, Zika absolutely, no, KJ absolutely, no, and Ty is absolutely no, right?
Yeah, I just can't see it with those guys.
OK. Also KJ two way. So like, any of the two ways are definitely out.
Yeah. So we'll see kind of what happens there.
Coming up, I'm going to ask Brian a question about David Adelman with so many people asking
what I think are little extreme questions about DA lately. And we'll talk about Denver's pass
of the finals because there is one. There really is one. I'll talk about it coming up on
lockdown nuggets. Today's show is brought to you by TurboTax. It's tax time. But for a lot of us,
the old way of doing taxes is a lot. Trying to book an appointment that's not the most convenient.
Sitting in a waiting room with a stack of papers, emailing back and forth and wondering if they
really get your situation. But this year, you're getting a major upgrade into it to over a tax now
has in-person locations nationwide. You can meet face-to-face with a real tax expert and your
documents get up led straight to your TurboTax app on the spot. Just like that, you're done. Your
TurboTax expert works to get you every dollar you deserve while you get real-time notifications
as you go about your day. It's the relief of walking in and meeting a real person and walking out
knowing your taxes are being handled right. Head to TurboTax.com slash local to find a store near
you and book your appointment. We're also brought to you by Quo Ryan Quo is what we're going to go
to now is we're going to talk about Quo. Spring is a natural reset point and if there's one thing
that can quietly cost business money, it's messy communication. Miss Call, scatter text,
no clear thread of who said what? That's why today's episode is brought to you by Quo.
Spell QUO the smarter way to run your business communications. Quo is the number one rated
business phone system on G2 with over 3,000 reviews trusted by more than 90,000 businesses.
It lets your entire team share one business number so you never miss a call, text, or opportunity.
Miss communications can be absolutely devastating in business. I remember one time that I worked in a
business to business sell and we missed a call that was that came in on a Thursday that we knew
was coming and it cost us the business and it was really bad and the bosses were very angry and
that was a very, very, very bad day and I had to go and buy many beverages after that day.
Void that by making sure that you get QUO. Everything lives in one clean thread on Quo. Calls, text,
voicemails, and the whole text team sees a conversation so nothing falls through the cracks.
It just makes your business feel more organized and responsive. Make this season a winner and make
sure that no opportunity and no customer slips away. Try Quo free and you get 20% off your first
six months at Quo.com slash locked on NBA. That's QUO.com slash locked on NBA. Quo, no miss calls,
no miss customers. We'll be right back on locked on nuggets.
Back here on locked on nuggets. Thanks for joining us and making this part of your A.
Appreciate you guys being with us. Thanks for being flexible, Ryan.
So, a lot of questions about David Adelman. We can have the whole conversation. I again always
get frustrated at this because when I start asking like, okay, so what does DA do wrong?
And the answer is always like rotations. And it's like, okay, do they have a forward missing?
Yeah. Does that forward probably change what the rotation looks like? Yeah.
Okay. So is it just not playing Zignaji? Yeah. Okay. And then it's like the timeouts.
And the timeouts are always a thing that can be good and bad and coaches do well and do bad.
I could just tell you that like, these are not the ways that you should evaluate coaches.
I'm sorry. I just for my experience in the league, the things that people tend to index on as far
as good and bad coaches. Ryan, like, you know this, like it's just like, it's like being like,
oh, what is your, it's like, what is your typo rate on the morning memo? Rough, right?
And it's just like, these aren't, these are not massive. It's like, you need to get it cleaned up.
It's unprofessional, but like, it's not, it's just like, it's such a small part of the job, man.
I just want to use this as an opportunity. There's, there's a lot of people that are like,
I miss Michael Malone. I miss Michael Malone. I miss Michael Malone. There's, there's a lot of
people that are doing that. And you guys remember who was talking to you about Michael Malone
during last year? And what we were consistently saying during last year that we didn't really think
it was a Malone problem. This wasn't really a coaching problem. Yeah. That was, that was,
I think they quit on them. And my thing is just like, they quit on them. So the coaches got to go,
but I'm all kind of like, you know, never gets, gets blamed for that is the people that
decided to quit. Um, never, they never get blamed. And I think it was time for Mo to go,
like, he'd been there 10 years. They was, that was such an incredible run. And it was time for
probably a fresh voice. But the other thing is just like, everyone like really was driven,
and when, when everyone wanted to fire Malone before they won the title, I was the one that was
like, you better be sure that you got somebody better, because the grass is not always greener.
Now, I don't know what it is with DA. I really don't. And the other thing I will tell you,
here's the bigger thing though. And this is the where once again, you were going to run into
the problem with this show, which is like, we deal with the realities of what is.
Michael Malone's still getting paid by Stan Cronky. And he's still getting paid a lot of money
by Stan Cronky. So everyone in the comments is like, if we lose in the first round, DA is gone.
Nope. Wrong. Nope. Stan Cronky is not paying about those contracts. That is not a thing that
will be happening. So DA is going to get at least another year. So I think you should probably
start to talk yourself into DA. Yeah. Embrace the idea that he's a first year head coach that
was putting it to a really uncomfortable situation last year. And did better than people expected
him to and got the team motivated back in the right direction. And there is also a possibility that
that happens this year in the playoffs. I'm not going to sit here and say that it is going to
happen, but we just don't know. And writing the narrative before it actually happens would be
ridiculous. So I think that we got to give him at least a little bit of time in like,
because a lot of what the regular season rotations and decisions are made for is with the playoffs
in mind is with the like, we're going to try to get a lot of data on this. And you're like,
there were people complaining about like, Valentin is playing with against the OKC small ball.
It's like, OK, maybe they're trying to confirm what they saw in the previous game. And they are
ensuring that like what actually happened in that particular instance is what's going to happen
or could be another data point for what's going to happen. They're trying different things. They're
trying like, they're going to do what they can to get as much information as possible and prepare
themselves for a playoff run. That's what you want as a fan, even if it costs you regular season wins.
This comment, for God's sake, just make Yokeuch the coach. Look, I get that you guys like the clips
of him scribble enough stuff on the whiteboard. Do you know, I know that like, I try and imagine
the Nicole Yokeuch's patience level when an agent calls and wants to talk about his guy getting
minutes, trying to imagine Yokeuch's patience in that situation, trying to imagine Yokeuch navigating
these type of things, trying to imagine Yokeuch in any of these situations that requires patience
or attention. Well, he's trying to and like consider that. Please. Sedrick says, imagine if we
had Steve Kerr on the nuggets, just so we're clear, Warriors fans are about 50-50 on Kerr, if not 40-60
on wanting him fired. And it's been like that for several years. They like,
every team hates their coach. Kind of like the nuggets. They think Steph Curry is a God and the
coach is a dumbass. That's what they think. So it's funny how that works. Yeah, weird.
Okay. So there's a path to the finals. And I do think at this point,
here's what I think is tough, Ryan.
They went two and two versus the Thunder last year. Okay. And they're all in three. So they've
gotten worse. I don't feel like they're further away than they were last year. I feel like they
are closer, even with the results being what they are. But that's a feeling and not a fact.
And so I don't know if the answer here is that somebody else is going to have to take out OKC.
And that's up for you to decide. What I will kind of set the bar at is like, look,
I set on Friday shows that they can't be the elite teams. They haven't like, they haven't done it.
So I can't stay here and say that they can. This is difficult for me to admit because I tend to
be perfectly honest with you. I've done the research and regular season win loss doesn't really
mean anything in the playoffs. Like you cannot be good versus teams in the regular season and
then destroy them in the playoffs. And there's all these anecdotal ones I can use like wolves and
sons two years ago. Yeah, everyone uses that one. But that's just an obvious one. There's
a lot of these where it's like, oh, they've got their number. Oh, that was a five game series.
Oh, the other way. It just is very, it's just very different because the playoffs are a very
different beast. I do think I am at the, I am of the belief at this point of gotta stay out of the
four five. So it's got to be three or six for Denver. So I still think they can get the three.
They're still within range of that. Nobody's going anywhere. They went tomorrow night versus Houston.
Minnesota's down 20 right now to the Los Angeles Lakers. Like there's an opportunity here for
Denver to be to get back into this to finish out the season on facing a bunch of weak teams and
get back into the three seed here. Yeah. So I think staying out of the four five and getting into
the three sticks from three six remains paramount. Even if I'm going to sit here and say like,
you know, because everyone's top the still wolf mentioned it in the comments. It's like Matt's
always talking about how no seat like only two teams outside of the top three. I don't think that
my goal for the nuggets at this point, but there it's a failure because their goal should be to win
the title. That was the objective coming in. So like they failed at becoming a title, a title
tier one contender. They're no longer in tier one. They've moved out of that. Yeah. And so it's like
or tier two. If you want to do like, okay, he's up here and then everybody else is in tier two.
I do think that they can make the finals. Like it would not shock me to see the nuggets when
the western conference and then lose in the finals. Yeah. Because if somebody else takes out
OKC and they benefit, but then they run into New York or they run into Cleveland. Those are
two teams. I think they have their number. Sure. So I could see them losing in that regard.
There is a pathway here. And to me, it's very simply like Houston in the three six or four or
three six, right? Or San Antonio catches OKC for the one and they get the four five and they beat
Houston or Minnesota or LA, which I think they can beat those teams. And then they beat San Antonio,
which that Thursday night matchup on the back to back is going to be interesting.
And then they hope that somebody catches OKC that that the same thing that has been fallen
previous champions, but falls OKC. And they're able to get there that I can see that as a realistic
path here. One of the reasons why the four five is just death for Denver is because OKC gets to
play an eight seed in the first round. And that in theory, like is going to be a four or four one
for them almost assuredly. And for Denver, it's going to be a dogfight all the way through. Denver is
going to have to go through a whole bunch of tough matchups. And if they were in the four five,
then hypothetically, let's say they play the rockets. Like let's say the Lakers fall to six. And the
the wolves are three and the rockets and nuggets are in the four five. Yeah. I mean, Denver can win
that series. They can they could potentially win it in five. They'll they would probably win it in
six. It could be a seven game series. And the rockets could probably win. I think that Denver would
have to battle in that one. That's a very physical matchup. And to come off of that matchup,
just like last year against the Clippers, and immediately have to go into a Thunder series where
they are fully rested and fully healthy and ready to go. Like we've seen the short runway
between those two series, it might help Denver get the first game, but we saw the penalties of
that by the end of the series, I think. So I do think that it would be nice if Denver, okay,
you get the three or the six, you win that. And hopefully you can do it in fewer than seven.
Then you've got the San Antonio Spurs. And that's like that one gets a little bit more spaced out.
And then the conference finals are also very spaced out in terms of like, hey, you're not going to
be playing every other day. You're probably going to be playing two games every five days on average.
So it would be a little bit more of a gap. And as a result of that, you give yourself as much time
as possible for OKC to falter. And that to me is where it should, that's where Denver should be
thinking about this in my opinion. It is going to funny where it's like, it's like, yeah, I give
other, you know, grind down OKC with these other series. And I'm like, yeah, but there's also a chance
that Denver gets ground. It's like it's more likely that Denver gets ground down.
No matter what, like if they have to deal with OKC in the second round or the third round,
they're going to be ground down no matter what. So I think if they get through OKC,
there's a chance that it gets them. And then they have nothing left for the series and the conference
finals at that point. So it's tough either way. I will say I'm a little bit, the more I think about
it, the more I kind of shift back to my original way of thinking, everyone disagrees with this.
I just think that you should try and catch these teams earlier. Like,
OK, you face OKC in the second round.
You know no matter what, that's the test. And the idea will be like making the conference
finals and losing to OKC is better than making the second round and losing to OKC.
I guess, but it's like if it's three six and you win as a six seed against the three,
and then something happens and like women, Yama gets injured and you make the comp,
and you make so it's like you make the conference finals, but you lose to OKC anyway versus like,
you don't know when OKC could get hit with bad luck with injury luck or whatever.
You don't know. And the other thing we saw last year is both the Cavaliers and the Thunder
had such easy pass in that first game series that when they walked into that second series,
they were both too confident and got hit. Now I think it's less likely with OKC because of last
year, OKC is going to be like, no. And that's the alternative here is like, maybe you don't because
you want OKC looking ahead to Denver and San, like if it's Denver, San Antonio in the two three or
two six matchup, maybe they're looking ahead to that and they get caught. I just think that the
game theory on this is a little interesting. It's very interesting. I don't know what the
I don't know what the actual best path is, but if I had to pick three teams that I would want
Denver to face in order, it would be I think the Lakers in the first round because I think they're
the easiest of the five other teams for Denver to match up with when they're serious.
I think it would be, it's got to be the spurs in the second round then and then it's the Thunder.
Like to me, that's that's the best way for Denver to get as far as possible.
And that should be the goals to get as far as you possibly can because here's the thing. Not
only have the nuggets only ever gotten to the NBA Finals, I want to championship once. They
haven't gotten to the conference fine. They've only gotten to the conference finals twice
in the Yokachara now. It would be nice to get back there again. It would be nice to get back
there and just say, OK, you're one of the final four teams. That's an elite place for you to be.
Doesn't guarantee that you're going to get all the way through, but like you have you have a
puncher's chance at that point. I think that if you're a top, if you're in the final four teams,
you have a puncher's chance, no matter what the circumstances are.
OK, I am still looking for options. I will close with this. One person suggested I have to
wear clown makeup. That's a pretty good one. I am willing, you have to get your suggestions in.
I am willing to do something if the nuggets fall into the play in tournament because I am confident
they will not. I have looked at the board. I have looked at the tiebreakers. I have looked at the
schedule. I do not think the Denver Nuggets are falling into the play in tournament. Everyone is
very worried about this. By the way, every single seven seed has always made the playoffs.
I am willing to discuss bets for my punishment on this show. If the Denver Nuggets do in fact
fall into the play in tournament, you can leave those in the comment section at youtube.com slash
locked on nuggets and hit me up on twitter at hbbastival with your suggestions. We'll figure this out
over the next one. You email him directly at lockedonnuggets.supercast.com.
Yeah, you can catch up. You can hit me up directly in the discord. Appreciate you guys.
You being with us. Make sure to hit the like and subscribe button if you're on youtube. Make
sure to give us a five-star review if you're on the podcast. Follow Ryan Blackburns. Work on
mile high sports. We will be back with you tomorrow night after the rockets game.
And then Thursday we'll have swiping right and then we'll have the post game after the spurs
game and then we'll have boom and gloom and then we'll have another show on Saturday night.
So lots of shows. Yay! No! Let's not say we can really use the dog's winnings so that we're like
excited to talk about it. That would be really great. That would be really really great, huh?
Also, I'm going to reach out to the locked-on avalanche guys. I haven't told you this. I'm
wondering if I love locked-on avalanche guys. I want to talk to you about what's been like covering
MVPs because since we've both, like, it's weird that we haven't done a show with locked-on halves
guys about covering McKinnon and Yoke. I think that's some shit. It's a good idea. It's a great idea.
We'll see you guys again next time. Appreciate you guys being with us. We'll see you later on
locked-on nuggets! Playoffs! Please, we are going to playoffs. Playoffs! Playoffs!
What's up everybody? This is Ross Jackson, one of the hosts of the locked-on podcast network. And if
you haven't heard yet, we started a club and we would love for you to join. It's called the
Everydayer Club. And one of the things that you get as a member is an ad-free version of the
podcast that you're listening to right now. It works with whatever podcast app you already use,
same episodes every day, just no ad. There's also a member's only group chat for fans of your team
plus a lot more. You can check it out by tapping the Everydayer Club link in the show notes.
Locked On Nuggets - Daily Podcast On The Denver Nuggets



